Directory_and_Chronicle_1900 — Page 1061

MANILA

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Observatory, admirably managed by the Jesuit Fathers, is well worthy of a visit. There is a good English Club. Of the hotels the Hotel de Oriente is the principal. The city and its suburbs contain a population of 300,000 and are the seat of a con- siderable and yearly increasing commerce. The principal articles of export are hemp, sugar, tobacco, cigars, coffee, and indigo, while of the imports cotton goods form the chief item. The anchorage is distant some three miles from the shore. The river presents a scene of great animation, being crowded with native craft interspersed with vessels of foreign build. The hot season commences in March and continues until July. The rains commence in August and continue to December, during which time the roads and streets get into a very bad condition. The maximum annual rainfall recorded is 114 inches and the minimum 84 inches. The maximum of the ther- mometer is about 92; a cool sea breeze sets in at night, reducing the heat to an endurable temperature for sleeping. According to the census of 1883 there were residing in Manila 250 foreigners of European origin, 4,189 European Spaniards, 15,157 Chinese, 46,066 Chinese mestizos (or half-breeds), 3,849 Spanish mestizos, and 160,896 pure natives.

In 1880 special dues were imposed on the trade of the port for the construction of a new harbour, namely, 2 per cent. on imports, 1 per cent. on exports, tonnage dues, and a tax on fishing boats. Up of the time of the American occupation a large sum had been collected, but comparatively little progress had been made with the works.

Tramways run in the principal streets of the city, and a railway to Dagupan was opened to traffic throughout its entire length, 123 miles, on the 23rd November, 1892. There is also a steam road to Malabon; and electric lights have been laid in the public squares and walks, in the business houses, and in the principal streets. There are a marine arsenal and a patent slip at Cavite, on the opposite side of the Bay.

The city and its suburbs receive their drinking water by pipes leading from Santalan, on the river Pasig. The water is carried to fountains, distributed in con- venient places through the streets, whence the inhabitants may draw for their domestic needs. The telephone system extends throughout the city and out as far as Malabon, Manila possesses many educational and charitable institutions, among others the Royal and Pontifical University of St. Thomas, which is managed and maintained by the Dominican Fathers. In this there are schools of theology and church law, jurisprudence, notarial law, medicine, and pharmacy. The College of St. Thomas, which belongs to the Univer- sity, maintains forty free scholarships for Spanish boys, who may pursue both primary and advanced studies. The College of San Juan de Letran, also under the Dominicans, devotes itself to the education of natives, and this college, as well as the other, is provided with an abundance of select scientific materials and with good physical and chemical outfits and exhibits and museums of natural history and fine arts. The College of San José (St. Joseph) gives instruction in medicine and pharmacy. The Orphan Asylum of Cambobong, founded by the Ladies' Union at Manila in 1882, is in charge of the Augustinians and imparts elementary and advanced instruction and qualifies boys for clerical situations both in public and business offices. The Mandaloya Orphanage, likewise under the care of the Augustinians and of the sisters of that order, gives to its inmates elementary instruction and teaches them household duties and other accomplishments suited to their sex. The St. Joseph's Home, founded in 1810, gives shelter to poor and demented children. The Hospital of San Juan de Dios, founded by the Brotherhood of Misericordia in 1595, cares for whatever invalids present themselves. It has six physicians, one pharmaceutist, one lady superior, twenty-two sisters, two chaplains, one head nurse, eight resident medical students, and the number of other qualified assistants that the service requires. The Hospital of San Lazaro, founded in 1578 by the Franciscan order, is for the care of leprous patients. The Manila Monté de Piedad and Savings Bank, organised in 1880, is designed, first, to receive pledges of furniture, jewellery, and household articles, against which it lends money at the rate of six per cent. per annum, and, secondly, to receive savings deposits, on which it pays four per cent. per annum. It has several branches. There are three banks in Manila, the Banco Español Filipino, the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the last of which has also a branch in Iloilo. There are numerous social societies, among which are the Spanish Casino, the Musical Society of the Philippines and of Saint Cecilina, the Manila and Nagatayan Club with a branch in San Gabriel, the German Union Casino, the Mariquina Gun Club, the Gun Club of San Juan del Monte, the Manila Jockey Club, the Manila Lawn Tennis Club, and the Cycle Club of Manila. The city is at present under military Government.

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